Black Labs…honest Opinions Very Appreciated!?
November 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
My husband and I are dog lovers. We’ve always had 2 dogs, but recently had to put one down due to medical issues. Now we have one dog and are considering another. We have the opportunity to adapt a 4 yr old male black lab from my boss. (My boss is having her first baby and doesn’t want a dog in the house) She said the dog is about 125 lbs and very friendly. Current on all shots. I’ve done some research on labs and they sound great, but I’m wanting to hear personal experiences from you if you have any. We take pet owning very seriously and we want to make a good choice. We have 2 teenage daughters and our other dog is a retired greyhound racer. We’d love to get a companion for her, because all she’s ever known is being around other dogs. What do you think of black labs? Temperment? Size? Pros & Cons? Easy to train? Friendly? Let me know everything you know. Thanks!
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Hi! I fostered Labs for a breed rescue several years ago and had some awesome experiences and a couple of horrible ones…. more about that later.
My suggestion to you would be to find out as much as you can about HER particular dog. Has she raised it since it was a puppy or does it have a history somewhere else? If so, where was it and how was it treated? Where did she get it? Pet shop, puppy mill, neighbor? Is it registered? Is it used to being kept outside, in the house, in a crate, does she leave it alone in the house? What are some annoying habits does it have? Does it still have accidents in the house? Has it ever escaped from the backyard? The crate? (Yes we had one that could escape from its crate). Does it dig, jump the fence? Sleep on the bed? Just how many of those 50 lb sacks of food does it go through in a week? What was the last thing it did that irritated her?
I would also encourage you to read “Marley and Me” by John Grogan. I just read it… memoirs about a lab and his owner that is very touching and realistic about labs… their common medical ailments and the costs to treat them.
A few things you’ll prob not see on any website:
* Labs SMELL, my father in law ALWAYS could tell when I was fostering one…. just standing at the front door. Labs have a doggy smell that is VERY powerful. You’ll never get rid of it, as long as they live in the house. You’ll get used to it… your relatives won’t.
*Labs with a history of bad behaviors (due to past owners abuse, neglect, or ignorance) take time and patience to “re-train”. I’m not saying it can’t be done, we had several chocolate males who were terrified of men and gradually warmed up to my hubby, but it takes time.
Also had another that refused to go pee outside… she never peed in the house either… just peed in her mouth… prob from a long history of being left in a crate too long.
Not often does it happen, but you occasionally get a lab with dominance issues. Maybe not a problem with your teenagers, but if you have any toddlers over (not to mention your current dog) you would want to be wary until the dog can be trusted… it is rare, but you CAN have labs with this problem. You may never have the animal act this way to you, but it just takes a split second for a BIG dog with dominance issues grab another dog or a toddler by the head and SHAKE them. 125 lbs male in the prime of his life can do a lot of damage very quickly. I will never forget me yelling/ prying of jaws open…. and the call to the rescue group. The dog was put down. Again this is VERY rare in labs, but it does happen.
You might want to do some testing on the dog, have his owner take his food away while he’s eating and see how he acts. What if you take the food away, or your teenagers? How does he act with young kids around?
Labs are also not by nature, guard dogs… however, they can and do rise to the occasion… Example: a lakeside camping trip we went on with a choc male foster, we tied the dog to a nearby tree with full run of our campsite. He lounged around our tent all night occasionally going out to our new “territory”. We awoke to a growl in the middle of the night saw a group of teens warily walking around our site, eyeing our very new foster dog, guarding us, his new family of less than a week. Who knows what the teens were up to. This particular lab was afraid of the water at the lake!!
We had another choc female that was HUGE, that just loved time for our young son to take his bath. I swear she knew when we would start talking about it. I finally gave in, allowing her to jump in, every night, they took a bath together, happily “search and rescuing” all the toys at the bottom of the tub!!
After our lab experience, we bought a Beagle, smaller, eats less, less poop, no doggy odor with shorter fur and less shedding. This pocket sized pooch is a member of the family and can’t drag me down the street. The labs were fun though. Fostering was a great experience and never a dull moment!
Great memories, each dog is different, get to know this one very well before you make a decision.
Again, read Marley and Me!! It was awesome!
we adopted a 2 year old black lab from a coworker and he has been wonderful. Smart and quick to learn. He learned in 3 nights (in a row) that he is not allowed to sleep on our bed and is supposed to sleep in his own bed. Wonderful temperment, he’s around 115 lbs, loves children and small dogs. Keep in mind, we did not train him from a pup. Such a good boy. We’ve had him for 3 years now. Once in a while (maybe every 2 months), he would get in the kitchen trash and that was our own fault for leaving something tasty right on top and then leaving him for a few hours.
We added a Rottweiler pup to give the Lab company. The are quite the pair. Only 1 time did the Lab snap at the Rottie (over a chew toy) and it has never happend since (and the Rottie is the dominant). The only con to the relationship is that the Lab used to be #1 and loved it. Now he must share attention with the Rottie. The con – once in a while, the lab will suddenly hike his leg in the house. He is very deliberate about it and it is always next to the Rottie’s crate (she’s still young and destructive). The Lab will only do it if he feels neglected and we can see in his behaviour when he thinks he is not getting enough attention.
The random peeing is pretty normal. He is just acting out like a child (of course, most kids don’t urinate out of jealousy)
Training – he’s around 5 years old now and is still learning new tricks. Very easy to train. He can speak, sit, laydown, stay, and shake all to verbal and hand-gesture commands.
The best part – when I’m sitting on the couch, he’ll come over and rest his head in my lap, look up with those big brown eyes, and sigh. He’s my buddy boy!
A lab is 125 pounds! If you do get him, first thing you’re gonna have to do is put him on a diet! Is he neutered? Should be by this point or problems may start. Labs…hmmm, there’s a lot of them. Nothing bad to say about them.
Black labs live for a LOOOOONNNNGGGG time mine is 16-17 so he will live a long good life that dog is a little over wait or is a mix of another dog so if you do get it feed it only what it needs they are the kindest friendliest dogs they are so easy to train and i trained mine to shake and sit when patting her but they are great with every dogs oh my gosh get it plz save it from going to the pound
I had a lab but had to put him down, but, let me say, labs are one of the friendliest dogs out there!
I LOVE LABS!! Allthough they can be kind of on the portly side they are the most sweet and loving dogs I know of. I know several adorable labs (name Ruby and Molly) and they are just soo much fun. If you have teenagers you wont have to worry about a lab being to much for them. Labs are extremley friendly so if you have an opportuintiy to get one go out and do it!!
In my experience, labs are fantastic. I couldn’t come up with any cons in terms of temperament. They are very friendly and easy to train. I currently have a 5 year old chocolate lab, and she is extraordinary. I got her as a companion to my 9 year old Australian shepherd, and she was so sweet. I have found that the male/female mix works wonderfully well (as long as they’re fixed). Just to further the argument, I also have 8 cats and 4 rabbits that the dogs interact with regularly. She has never been even remotely aggressive. Labs are wonderful dogs. In general, they are very friendly, eager to please, and playful. I would say that the only disadvantage is that they can develop some severe health problems. They are prone to obesity, so you must exercise them often. They also commonly develop hip and elbow dysplasia, PRA and eye disorders. You can discuss prevention of these health issues with your vet. Otherwise, I would fully recommend a lab. They are really a wonderful breed.
Labs are generally pretty easy to train. Definately go with the older ones—you will have less training with house training, basic training commands, and such. They are very friendly. My friend had 2 labs, and they were the cutest, sweetest, nicest things you would ever know. They were also VERY friendly with other dogs.
Labs are Awesome! I have 2 and love them so much! Mine have quite a story, they were abused before we rescued them but now they are perfectly fine and show no signs of previous abuse. They are so gentle! They are very loyal and loving! So glad they found me! They are my babies! I say get the Lab.
I have personally never liked black labs, but they are very friendly, smart, energetic, and loyal dogs. I have not really liked any labs that I have met though because they are pushy, they shed like crazy and have a funky smell sometimes because of their oily fur.
I am always for the adoption of an older dog because if the dog is taken to a shelter it is harder for them to be adopted than puppies, but keep in mind that this dog is big (can possibly be hard to control) and has already been trained by someone else and has developed habits (good or bad) that may be really tough to fix.
Also, maybe the greyhound and the lab should meet at the park or something- make sure to go someplace nuetral, not your house or theirs. See how they act and how the dog acts and if you feel good about then go for it!! Good Luck!!!